FIRESIDE DEPARTMENT. Answer to "Enigma of Natural Curiosi ties," in March Number. WE are glad to be able to state that our readers have been very successful in solving this enigma. They have not been as successful, however, in finding the errors in it. We have received answers from fifty-five persons, and only seventeen of them remind us that Doctor was spelled with an e. Phenix; Carrie and Lizzie, and C., Glouces- ANSWER. Three speak of Kentucky as a western, and not, as said in the enigma, a southern state. Peel, Port Lloyd, Solfatara, Towaligo, PicThree object to the spelling [Weyer's] of tured Rocks, Antiparos, Grand Banks, WeyWeir's Cave. It is spelled both ways with er's Cave, Geysers, Fingal's Cave, Florida authority. Two others spell "Watt, Reefs, Minnehaha, Sea of Rocks, Giant's "Wats," and consequently makes the phe-Causeway, Natural Bridge, Mammoth, Java, nomenon in Germany read, "Spectre of She-Ouachitta, Spectre of the Broken, Sindree. broken." One correspendent adds the following: • Whole-Docter Franklin's discovery that electricity could be controlled, and the knowledge of the power of steam by James Watt. DESCRIPTION OF SOME OF THE ABOVE At Port Lloyd on Peel island, the largest of the Bonin group in the Pacific ocean, is a remarkable tunnel supposed to be of volcanic origin. It is from 30 to 50 feet high, with pillars of volcanic rock, and extends across the entire width of the island.-Commodore Perry's Expedition to Japan. In the Campagna, between Rome and Tivoli, is the lake of Solfatara, into which continually flows a stream of tepid water from a smaller lake situated a few yards above it.-Lyell's Principles of Geology, page 243. The Pictured Rocks on the shores of lake Superior, are described as follows in Harpers' The following individuals have sent solutions in season for publication: I. L. C., G., F. H. D., M. S. G., Westerly; W. C. B., Smithfield; M. H. S., New London; E. B. C., A. A. M., W. G. C., M. A. C., B. C., K., | Magazine, vol. vi. page 586, as seen from a A. M. R., R. A. H., R., M., A., R., A.,Manfred, distance of a few miles: "A portion of the Talbot, and John Dudd, Providence; L., Paw-appearance seems like standing columns, such tucket; C. A. B., T. C., and C. E., Woon- as remind us of the ruins of Tadmor; another socket; H. K. H., Tower Hill; I. O. S., portion lower down the lake strongly resem 2 bles a walled town, such as is given us in paintings of Asian and Syrian scenery. A little further on rises a magnificent temple with Grecian portico, in fact, on the model of the Parthenon. Still, a little further on, a row of huge masses almost deceive you into the belief of extensive warehouses, and the illusion is assisted by certain other masses which resemble the sails of shipping, together presenting the picture of an extensive commercial mart. These appearances are owing to the white sand-cliffs which for some miles bound this part of the coast, and which are more or less invaded by the forest." Spectre of the Broken. This phenomenon is caused by the sun's rays striking the object upon the summit of the mountain in a particular direction; the shadow is reflected upon the clouds and any motion is visible. Superstitious people used to think it was caused by supernatural agency. There is authority for for spelling the word Broken or Brocken. The fort and village of Sindree, on the eastern arm of the Indus, above Luckport, are stated by the same writer to have been overflowed; and, after the shock, the tops of the houses and wall were alone to be seen above the water, for the houses, although submerg Antiparos, is on an island by the same name ed, were not cast down. Had they been sit in the Mediterranean sea. The Grand Bank east of the coast of Newfoundland, is supposed to be formed by the Gulf Stream and the Arctic current. An interesting description of the Geysers of Iceland may be found in Lyell's Principles of Geology, page 553. The Sea of Rocks, in the Mountains of Odenwald, "is a large collection of rocks rounded smooth as by action of water, closely resembling waves, situated near the top of a mountain." uated, therefore, in the interior, where so many forts were levelled to the ground; their site would, perhaps, have been regarded as having remained comparatively unmoved.Hence we may suspect that great permanent upheavings and depression of soil may be the result of earthquakes, without the inhabitants being in the least degree conscious of any change of level. A more recent survey of Cautch, by Sir A. Burnes, who was not in communication with Capt. Marmurdo, confirms the facts above enumerated, and adds many important details. That officer examined the delta of the Indus in 1826 and 1828, and from his account it appears that, when Sindree subsided in June 1819, the sea flowed in by the western mouth of the Indus, and in a few hours converted a tract of land 2000 square miles in area, into an inland sea, or lagoon. Neither the rush of the sea into this new depression, nor the movement of the earthquake, threw down entirely the small fort of Sindree, one of the four towers, the northwestern, still continuing to stand; and, the day after the earthquake, the inhabitants who had ascended to The Hot Springs of Ouachitta are found in Arkansas. They are quite numerous, and the water is within a few degrees of boiling heat. -Schoolcraft's Lead Mines of Missouri, p. 258. The following, in reference to Java, is found in Lyell's Principles of Geology, page 353; "There is an extinct crater near Batur, called Guevo Upas, or the Valley of Poison, almost half a mile in circumference, which is justly an object of terror to the inhabitants of the country. Every living being which penetrates this valley falls down dead, and the soil is covered with the carcasses of tigers, deer, birds, and even the bones of men; all killed by the abundant emanations of carbonic acid the top of this tower, saved themselves in gas, by which the bottom of the valley is filled." | boats.-Lyell, page 461. X. For the Schoolmaster. BY A SCHOOL-BOY AGED 14 YEARS. I am composed of forty-two letters. My 31, 15, 7, 27, 14, 5, 35, is an ocean. My 36, 40, 19, is a river in Asia. My 6, 5, 20, 27, 37, 23, is an island south of Europe. My 41, 18, 15, 37, are mountains in Asia. My 42, 37, 21, 9, 17, is a lake in North America. For the Schoolmaster. IN an old church, in Europe, built several hundred years ago, it is related that under the ten commandments were inscribed in capital letters the following: PRSVRYPRFCTMN, For a long time no one could decipher the meaning, which had been lost, so ancient was the venerable edifice. At length a gentleman My 1, 25, 3, 4, 10, 21, 4, 28, 33, 15, is a told his friends that he had solved the riddle, sea in Asia. My 39, 1, 15, 34, 15, 11, 21, 29, is a mount in Asia. and insisted that they also could do the same thing. To assist them, he informed them that, in My 3, 38, 26, 8, 31, 10, is a country on the order to read the inscription, they must insert eastern hemisphere. My 32, 13, 6, 1, 3, is an island of South America. a certain vowel, and only one vowel, in its proper places, and, this done, the inscription would make two lines of poetry, and would My 22, 21, 12, 30, 14, 22, 5, 6, 20, 15, 23, form an important injunction in reference to is a bay in Europe. My 6, 19, 21, 16, is a country in Asia. My whole, is one of the greatest events in the history of the world. For the Schoolmaster. I. the commandments engraved above. Will the readers of the SCHOOLMASTER in form us which of the vowels is to be used, and in what places ? ANTIQUARIAN. The Game of Questions. ONE thinks of a person, place, or thing; the others put questions respecting it, to assist them in guessing, and are answered by "Yes" or "No." Suppose one thinks of a pin, the others ask a character well known to the ancients, whose-Is it a person?-No. A place?-No. A title is applied to some modern scholars. My 11, 2, 14, is never of any practical value till it is broken. thing-Yes. Having ascertained thus much, you know that you must put questions concerning things only. So you begin again : My 10, 20, 3, is a term never applied to Is it an animal? - No. Vegetable?-No. anything warm. Mineral-Yes. Now you must put ques My 6, 20, 7, 8, 5, 12, 16, is what every one tions concerning minerals :-Is it natural ?— who seeks me ought to say. Then would follow: My whole has long been the study of emi- Is it made of metal? Earth? Stone? A nent linguists. natural product of this country? Light or 27 2+7=9 108 1+8=9 and so on with any number, no matter how large." "You can do the same with any of the mul But what did the huntsman? He shot them not! tiples of 9," said Aunt Fanny," as 18, 27, 36, He blew his horn by the forest green, Now tell me good people, what could that mean ? And as I strolled onward along the shore, Retracing my steps at evening's fall, Curious Facts About Figures. WE take the following interesting and instructive extract from a book recently published by Gould & Lincoln, entitled, "Marcus, the Boy Tamer," being the fourth of the series of "Aimwell Stories." It is an ingeniously written book, intensely interesting, full of thought, provoking thought, and pervaded by a high moral tone. "That is curious; but why is it so-does anybody know?" inquired Ronald. The several columns in these tables may be “It will take a wiser head than mine to tell added up in the usual way, or crosswise, or why it is so," replied Marcus. "I found out something the other day about figures that I didn't know before," remarked Ronald; "and that is, that if you wish to multiply a number by five, you can get the same result by dividing by 2, and adding a 0 if there is no remainder, or 5 if there is a remainder. Thus, 5 times 12 are 60. Divide 12 by 2, and add a 0, and you get 60. Or 5 times 83 are 415; divide 83 by 2, and add 5, because there is a remainder, and you have the same number, 415. "That is quite a convenient process, sometimes," said Miss Lee," but there is no mystery about it, like the properties of the figure 9. It is in fact the same thing as multiplying by 10 and dividing by 2. "So it is," replied Ronald. "Well, it's queer that I did'nt find that out myself-I thought that I had discovered something new." "Do you know how to make the magic square, Marcus ?" inquired Otis. "I used to know how to make a magic square, for there are several hundreds of them," replied Marcus. "Let me see if I can do it, now-I suppose I have forgotten all about it." diagonally (from one angle to its opposite) and the result will always be the same-15 in the first, and 34 in the second square. For the Schoolmaster. Lines Suggested by an Evergreen. In May I gathered flowers Then earth more fair became Next I did bring to thee To-day, beneath the snow, A simple vine of green, |